Febi, Hendri strive to improve rankings

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Febi Widhiyanto and Hendri Susilo Pramono are hoping to improve their ranking by competing in the German third division tennis competition for the third year.

"I must improve on my ATP ranking, currently in the 800s, to reach 500 in four to five years. I will compete in five or six challenger events in Germany," Febi told a press conference on Tuesday.

"Last year I was unbeatable while ranked fifth in my club. But I could not compete in the last two matches as I had to play in the Surabaya 2000 National Games (PON)," said Febi, who plays for Schwetzingen club.

"My target is to promote my club to the second division. The competition will be tough because this year I will be appointed as the first or second player."

Meanwhile Hendri hoped to improve on his current ATP ranking of 569.

"I will also play in six or seven future tournaments during the league season," said Hendri, who will play for Liemen.

Febi and Hendri received their first sponsorship deal with PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia in 1999. They had planned to reach the 300s in the world rankings last year but apparently they had to return home for PON and Davis Cup matches.

Junior Eko Kurniawan will join Febi in Schwetzingen to prepare himself to qualify for the French Open junior in May. In the mean time, Eko will warm up in several group 2 and 3 junior events in France, Italy and Austria.

The players will leave on Friday to start preparing themselves before the league starts in May and ends in July.

There are six players in each team and they will play both singles and doubles matches in a round robin system of eight teams.

"There are nine matches in which the singles players must play according to their rank. But in the doubles, players can change partner depending on the team's strategy," said Febi.

"We will either host or visit our opponents. It depends on last year's schedule. If we hosted a team last year, then this year we will visit it."

Meanwhile, Eko, number 120 in the junior world rankings, expected to get good results in his three-country tour.

"With my current ranking, it's quite difficult to enter the French Open main draw. I must reach at least the semifinals of the warm up events."

"If I can reach the main draw, it will be easier to reach the French Open semifinals to achieve my target." (nvn)